Author Description

Max Galka

I'm an NYC-based entrepreneur (my newest project: Blueshift) and adjunct instructor at UPenn. I'm fascinated by data visualization and the ways that data is transforming our understanding of the world. I spend a lot of time with my face buried in Excel, and when I find something interesting I write about it here and also as a Guardian Cities and Huffington Post contributor.
More about my background

If you are like me, your idea of what it costs to rent in NYC is far from the reality. Nearly every apartment you will find online or see through a real estate agent is part of New York’s non-regulated rental stock, which...

What is an illegal conversion? According to this pamphlet from the NYC Dept. of Buildings, an illegal conversion is: an alteration or modification of an existing building to create an additional housing unit without first obtaining approval from the NYC Dept of...

This map shows the world broken down into 22 regions, each with about the same population as the United States (give or take about 10%). There are many ways of looking at the world’s population distribution. Other population maps posted...

The last few years have seen an explosion of digital mapping on the web, but for some reason the cartogram has been largely left out. And it’s too bad because in many cases they are a far superior way...

It’s not every day a new record is set in competitive sports. But today, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut scarfed down 70 HDB’s (hot dogs with bun) in 10 MINUTES, a new record for Nathan’s Famous 4th of July Hot Dog Eating...

Based on film permit data from the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting, this map displays the filming locations of all movie scenes, 17,241 in total, filmed between 2011 and 2013 (excluding those that were filmed in parks or on...